In a holy place like Jerusalem, even a city map can become a religious text

         One of my grandchildren is an avid map reader. He studies the street maps of Jerusalem and knows every nook and cranny, all the highways and byways of the city.

And though he cannot tell me the status of traffic at any given moment, he can share with me every shortcut and sparsely traveled street. Only eight years old, he is a walking WAZE.

Maps are in fact quite fascinating, especially in Jerusalem where so many thoroughfares bear the names of historical figures. Representing modern Israel are names such as Menachem Begin Boulevard or Golda Meir Avenue. For a Biblical travelogue, the Geula section offers streets for the Biblical prophets: Amos, Yoel, Yeshayau, Malachi, and Yechezkel are here. For good measure, there is the all-encompassing Rechov Haneviim(“Street of the Prophets”), and if you prefer royalty, there is Rechov Malchei Yisrael (“Street of Israel’s Kings”).

The most fascinating thoroughfare bears three famous names. It winds its way from the southwest corner of Jerusalem, not far from Hadassah hospital, where it is called Rechov Herzl, then runs past the military cemetery until the busy entrance to the city where, without warning, it suddenly transmogrifies into Rechov Yirmiyahu, which traverses the outskirts of chareidi enclaves, and finally becomes Bar Ilan Street until it reaches the northeast corner of Jerusalem — a fascinating ten-mile journey on one road bearing three familiar names.

Why is this winding road so fascinating? Because in one sense, it represents the potential inner development of a Jew whose spiritual journey reaches higher and higher, and whose relationship with his Creator grows ever deeper and more intimate.

The trip from Theodor Herzl through the great Rabbi Bar Ilan (Rav Meir Berlin) and climaxed by the G-d-intoxicated prophet Yirmiyahu is illuminating.

Herzl, the visionary who led the modern struggle for an independent Jewish state, was not a learned or practicing Jew. He had a great vision of a Jewish state, but as an unlearned and unpracticing Jew, his vision was not grounded in solid rock. But his passion for the Jewish people energized much of world Jewry and mobilized key statesmen to help achieve the goal of a Jewish state.

His Jewishness was as nothing compared to Rav Meir Bar-Ilan, who was a brilliant Torah scholar whose vision extended to a Jewish state defined by Torah learning and renewed attachment to the G-d of Israel.

And of course, no mortal can compare to a Biblical prophet, much less a prophet like Yirmiyahu whose vision transcended ordinary events, who foresaw and witnessed the destruction of the ancient Jewish state, and envisioned its ultimate reflowering.

But this three-part thoroughfare also represents the potential downfall of a Jew. He might be endowed with the innate gift of a Yirmiyahu for learning, prayer, and outreach to G-d, but through neglect and apathy he retrogresses and descends ever downward until he becomes merely ordinary. This is a contemporary Jacob’s ladder, with figures regularly ascending and descending.

This up-down and down-up journey is represented by two Biblical figures, Noah and Moshe Rabbeinu. When we first encounter Noah, the Torah refers to him as ish tzadik, “a righteous man” (Bereishis 6:9). But later in life, having succumbed to his physical appetites, he is called ish haadamah, “a man of the earth” (ibid. 9:20). By contrast, Moshe at first is referred to as ish Mitzri (Shemos 2:19) “an Egyptian man,” but later he is ish ha’Elokim, “a man of G-d” (Devarim 33:1).

We are all “ish,” but the adjective defining our “ish”-ness — what kind of ish we become — is written by us alone.

Because life is a journey from beginning to end. We can travel from a well-meaning but ungrounded Herzl and arrive into the orbit of holiness, or we can descend from that orbit into a well-meaning but ungrounded Herzl.

In a holy place like Jerusalem, even a city map can become a religious text. We have the map. How we use it, how we resist the tempting byways and detours and digressions along the way, is our decision.

It is instructive to take a second look at the Jerusalem map, and try to locate where precisely we find ourselves.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1092)